The present invention relates to a process for the ultramicro-quantitative analysis of acetone contained in a sample from a biological preparation and to kits suitable for use in the quantitative analysis.
Acetone is one component of the ketone bodies produced mainly in the liver when mammalians (humans) are subjected to conditions under which the fat stored in the body decomposes, such as a fasting condition. The ketone bodies produced in the liver enter the blood and are transferred mainly to muscles and metabolized therein to supply the energy required for the activity of the muscle cells.
The concentration of the ketone bodies in the blood varies largely depending upon the action of hormones having an influence on the metabolic activity of the organism. The measurement of the concentration of the ketone bodies in the blood has been shown to be of importance in connection with diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of diseases in the field of clinical medicine as well as in basic medical sciences. For example, the concentration of the ketone bodies in the blood has been shown to increase markedly in the case of diabetes and infant periodic emesis. Furthermore, the pancreatic secretion of insulin can be estimated from the degree of reduction in the concentration of the ketone bodies in the blood after a glucose load.
Heretofore, the quantitative determination of the ketone bodies has been carried out by subjecting two components, other than acetone, acetoacetic acid and 3-hydroxybutyric acid, to oxidation and decarboxylation treatments to convert them to acetone and colorimetrically determining the formed acetone. However, this method has not been practical because it has poor detection sensitivity in the quantitative determination of acetone. Instead of this method, a method has been available in the field of basic and clinical medicine in which only either 3-hydroxybutyric acid or acetoacetic acid or both is estimated by an enzymatic method without the determination of acetone.